The Effective Management of Juvenile Sex Offenders in the Community Section 3: Assessment

Section 32 Key Topics for The Assessment Section Part I: Broad Assessment Issues Part II: Style and Process Part III: Pre-Disposition Report Part IV: Psychosexual Evaluation Part V: Risk Assessment

Section 33 Defining Assessment To estimate or determine the significance or importance of something(s) To observe or monitor To evaluate

Section 34 Examples of Key Stakeholders Forensic evaluators Specialized treatment providers Supervision officers Teachers, other school officials Release decisionmakers Parents/caregivers Family therapists Victim therapists Juvenile and family court judges

Section 35 Ongoing Process, Not An Event Risk and needs change Assess critical variables over time Promotes informed, timely responses

Section 36 What types of assessment data are needed to make informed decisions about juvenile sex offenders?

Section 37 Examples of Important Assessment Data Points Individual variables Level of risk Sexual history and adjustment Mental health difficulties Substance abuse Maltreatment history Intellectual, cognitive functioning School performance Family variables Parent/caregiver capacity Parental risk factors Violence in the home Environmental variables Peer influences Community influences Access to victims, victim safety issues

Section 38 Assess Strengths and Assets Individual Family Environmental

Section 39 Assessment Data Sources Interviews with youth Collateral interviews Comprehensive records General psychological measures Offense-specific measures Physiological tools

Section 310 Goals Influence Data Needs Inform disposition or sentencing Identify supervision needs Determine supervision level Identify treatment needs Measure treatment progress Assess treatment/supervision compliance

Section 311 Collaboration is Vital Different system actors, different data Information-sharing is needed Potential statutory/policy restrictions Releases of information Memoranda of understanding

Section 312 Summary Key to informed decisionmaking Everyone has a role Ongoing process vs. single event Multiple data sources Collaboration, information-sharing

Section 313 Style and Approach are Important Goal is to obtain complete, accurate information Process and strategy may facilitate or hinder disclosure Focus on rapport

Section 314 Contextual Variables Stigma, shame, and guilt Intensely personal nature of questions Overwhelming court processes Cultural norms and influences

Section 315 Invitations to Responsibility Shift from coercive, shame-based, and confrontational models Emphasizes respectful and therapeutic engagement of clients Highlights the concept of choice Assists clients with identifying their own motivations to change (Jenkins, 1990, 1998)

Section 316 Motivational Interviewing: Guiding Principles Express empathy Develop discrepancy Roll with resistance Support self-efficacy (Miller & Rollnick, 1991, 2002)

Section 317 Additional Interviewing Tips Simple vocabulary Open-ended questions “Successive approximation” Resist challenging minimizations or contradictions Positive reinforcement (see, e.g., Lambie & Robson, 2006; McGrath, 1990; Miller & Rollnick, 2002; Rich, 2003)

Section 318 Pre-Disposition Report Often first opportunity to assess comprehensively Informs decisionmaking for judges Provides baseline data Should follow youth throughout system Foundation of case management

Section 319 Overarching Considerations Accountability and rehabilitation Victim impact, victim needs Community safety interests

Section 320 PSR/PDR: Critical Elements Offense information Prior delinquency Youth functioning Family functioning Aggravating and mitigating factors Victim impact Sexual, non-sexual risk levels Appropriate placement options Recommendations

Section 321 Child and Adolescent Strengths and Needs – Sexual Development (CANS-SD) Structured needs assessment Multiple domains assessed Functioning Risk behaviors Mental health needs Care intensity and organization Caregiver capacity Strengths Characteristics of sexual behavior (Lyons, 2001)

Section 322 Recommendations Specialized programs, services, interventions Suggested placement, level of care Special conditions of supervision, if applicable Fines, restitution Best course of action should be offered

Section 323

Section 324

Section 325 Not identical to general psychological evaluation Requires specialized training and experience Forensic psychology Adolescent mental health and juvenile justice Sex offender management Sexually abusive youth Psychosexual Evaluation

Section 326 Ethical and legal questions may arise pre- adjudication Presumption of guilt Fifth amendment/self-incrimination Ultimate issue/guilt or innocence Best suited for informing disposition recommendations, case planning Ideally Conducted Post-Adjudication

Section 327 Informed Consent Explain your role Review processes, procedures Outline risks, benefits, consequences Explain confidentiality limits Allow for questions

Section 328 Commonalities Across Evaluations Clinical interview with juvenile and parent/caregiver Thorough review of records General psychological testing Intellectual functioning Personality adjustment Emotional/psychological functioning

Section 329 Unique Elements Sex offense-specific assessment tools Juvenile sex offense-specific risk assessment Potential use of physiological tools Comprehensive sexual history

Section 330 Sexual History Sexual learning Sexual development Early sexual experiences Masturbation Fantasies, “turn-ons” Explicit materials Age-appropriate, consensual experiences Victimization history Perpetration behaviors Potential paraphilias

Section 331 Examples of Psychosexual Assessment Measures Adolescent Sexual Interest Cardsort Becker & Kaplan, 1988 Adolescent Cognitions Scale Hunter, Becker, Kaplan, & Goodwin, 1991 Multiphasic Sex Inventory-Juvenile Version Nichols & Molinder, 1986, 2001 Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths-Sexual Development Lyons, 2001

Section 332 Physiological Tools Penile plethysmograph Viewing time (Abel Screen) Polygraph

Section 333 Plethysmography Cautions Limited research with youth Developmental factors may influence reliability/validity Arousal patterns not firmly established with youth Intrusive procedure, questionable stimuli

Section 334 Programs Using Plethysmograph with Juveniles (McGrath, Cumming, & Burchard, 2003)

Section 335 Viewing Time Cautions Little published research Available evidence is mixed Fairly promising (see Abel et al., 1998; Becker & Harris, 2004; Letourneau, 2002)

Section 336 Programs Using Viewing Time with Juveniles (McGrath, Cumming, & Burchard, 2003)

Section 337 Polygraph Utilization Trends in Community- Based Programs (McGrath, Cumming, & Burchard, 2003)

Section 338 Polygraph Cautions Little research, especially with juveniles Reliability and validity potentially influenced by developmental factors

Section 339 Practice Guidelines: Physiological Measures with Youth Not for guilt or innocence determinations Not as a sole basis for key decisions Specially trained users Safeguards against self-incrimination Informed consent Best reserved for older youth

Section 340 Summary and Recommendations: Psychosexual Evaluation Attitude toward treatment, amenability Level of accountability Degree of psychosexual disturbance Special needs Environmental suitability Strengths and assets Risk level Range of treatment needs Suggested level of care/least restrictive placement options

Section 341 Risk Assessment Increasingly influential Effective and efficient allocation of resources Consistency, structure, equity, and objectivity

Section 342 Common Uses Detention hold or release decisions Level of custody or placement at disposition Community supervision level Sex offender registration and community notification

Section 343 Risk Factors: General Delinquency or Youth Violence Age at first referral or adjudication Prior referrals or adjudications Nature of current charge Prior aggression Association with delinquent peers Social isolation History of abscondence Substance abuse Family instability, poor parent-child relations History of maltreatment School problems (see, e.g., Cottle et al., 2001; Lipsey & Derzon, 1998)

Section 344 Risk Assessment Tools: General Delinquency Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (Hoge & Andrews, 1996) Structured Assessment of Violence Risk for Youth (Bartel, Forth, & Barnum, 2002) Michigan, Washington, and Wisconsin Risk Assessment Instruments

Section 345 Risk Prediction Challenges for Juvenile Sex Offenders Low base rates of recidivism Limited number of well-designed studies on recidivism for youth

Section 346 Suggested Risk Factors for Juveniles: Sexual Recidivism Family instability, poor parent-child relations Association with delinquent peers Social isolation Antisocial orientation, psychopathy Deviant arousal Sexual preoccupation, compulsivity Non-familiar victims Pro-offending attitudes Impulsivity Treatment non- compliance, termination (see, e.g., Prescott, 2006; Worling & Langstrom, 2006)

Section 347 Risk Assessment Approaches Unstructured clinical judgment Empirically-guided Actuarially-based

Section 348 Limitations of Actuarials Moderate–not high–predictive accuracy Cannot identify actual risk of recidivism for specific individuals Cannot affirmatively determine who will or will not reoffend

Section 349 Promising Tools for Juveniles Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II (Prentky & Righthand, 2003) Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offense Recidivism (Worling & Curwen, 2001)

Section 350 J-SOAP-II Subscales Sexual drive/preoccupation Impulsive, antisocial behavior Intervention Community stability/adjustment (Prentky & Righthand, 2003)

Section 351 ERASOR Domains Sexual interests, attitudes, behaviors Historical sexual assaults Psychosocial functioning Family environmental functioning Treatment (Worling & Curwen, 2001)

Section 352 Programs Using J-SOAP-II or ERASOR (McGrath, Cumming, & Burchard, 2003)

Section 353 Conclusion Assessment is ongoing and multidisciplinary Multiple sources of data Importance of style and approach No magic bullets No absolutes Key to informed decisionmaking